Arvind Kejriwal could go all the way to Red Fort

You don’t need to swat a balloon. A pinprick will do. Arvind Kejriwal is that pinprick. Over the past week, as we started to assimilate Kejriwal as chief minister, a sort of rethink appears to have begun. It is nothing like a hurricane yet; it’s like a drizzle.

Somewhere, at the back of the mind, is emerging the thought: Is Kejriwal the kind of people’s prime minister we are looking for? The search in 2014 would be for someone better, not the ideal. Everybody knows that all contenders, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and whoever else they may be, come with flaws.

It cannot therefore be a quest for the perfect candidate. There is none. All we want is someone who will not make us uneasy, who will offer a large heart, who is able to prioritise challenges, who has a sense of India and who can keep us safe and secure.

In his first couple of days as Chief Minister, Kejriwal has come across as fearless, canny, and in for the long haul. He has a raw team that will feel the enormous strain of governance. It is a huge shift – moving from the attacker to the attacked. It won’t be easy or simple. There may be mistakes too.

But the steely determination of Kejriwal does make the shrillness of Narendra Modi look shallow. It makes the earnestness of Rahul Gandhi appear inert. It may not be so but it starts to look so. And in politics, feeling trumps fact.

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Image: Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, center, meets people outside his residence a day after he was sworn in as Delhi's Chief Minister, in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad. The AAP won 28 of Delhi's 70 assembly seats in elections held earlier this month, paving the way for its leader to take office. Kejriwal, a former civil servant, campaigned to rid Delhi's government of corruption and inefficiency. (AP)